Love Beyond Limits
by Memories Left Abandoned
Summary: Tom/Jane. Extended ending of the movie. K.


A/N: Alright, so I was digging through my files the other day and found this little ficlet right here. I figured I'd post it since there are only 9 Becoming Jane fics in here, and it deserves more. Honestly, though, it sucks. I edited it a thousand times and couldn't get that spark…ugh. Whatever. Enjoy it anyways =) OH, and this is an extended ending of the movie. It picks up right at the end.

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Jane finished her reading and closed her book, allowing herself to close her eyes as the applause began. Having Tom in the room was making her stomach ache with the same apprehension as it did when she was young.

_He has a wife_, she scolded herself. _A wife and a family_.

_And a daughter he named for you_, a small voice said.

Slowly, the applause died out, and people began to take their leave. She felt Jane leave her side, and she finally opened her eyes.

Tom was still standing where he had been when she closed her eyes.

"You stayed awake this time," she said quietly, not moving.

He smiled. "I did."

He walked slowly toward the seat and sat down on the opposite end. Still she did not look at him.

"Wonderful recital, do you think?" he asked.

"Oh yes," she said. "Yes it was."

After a small pause she finally looked up at him. "Your daughter is lovely," she said. "She looks like you."

"She does," he said with a small nod.

They stared at each other for an eternity. Jane finally looked away.

"Is Jane your only daughter?"

"No, I have another, Mary."

Silence again engulfed the room. Jane stared out of the window and Tom glanced toward the doorway. She moved her hand absentmindedly to the center of the seat, and he did the same. They touched briefly, and both jumped off the seat.

"I apologize," Jane whispered. "It seems to be a habit."

"I should be the one apologizing," he replied quietly.

Another moment of silence passed before Tom faced Jane fully.

"You should know-"

She turned toward him, and he was captured for a moment by the look in her eyes. The same eyes he'd fallen in love with all those years ago.

"You should know that although I moved on…" he gazed again into her eyes, and for a time let himself believe she was just as much in love with him as the day she left.

"Even though you have moved on?" she prompted in a whisper.

"I have not stopped and will not stop loving you."

She felt her stomach drop completely and tried to take a deep breath. He took a step forward and she turned from him once more. "Mister Lefroy-"

"We abandoned propriety years ago, Jane," he reminded her, a distressed edge in his voice.

For a moment Jane closed her eyes and let herself believe she was twenty years old and crossed in love. She pretended for a moment that he had no family, no obligations.

For a moment she convinced herself they could be together.

When she opened her eyes, however, he was still married, and still looking at her with the same desperate look he'd given her as she walked away from him.

"We did," she agreed, sitting down. "But perhaps it would be best if for the moment we returned to it."

Tom shook his head in frustration and began to pace. "If we were following the rules of propriety I would not be telling you I love you. If we were following the rules of propriety, Jane, we would not be standing in this room."

Jane looked into his eyes, and he shook his head again.

"I told you I was yours, heart and soul, and that has not changed," he whispered. She looked up at him and was reminded so powerfully of that night in the garden that she sighed.

"I, too, have not changed," she admitted.

He stopped pacing and chanced a look at her. Her head was bowed, and the ghost of a tear graced her cheek. He took her in his arms and kissed her passionately, just as he had in the woods so many years ago. Tears flew freely from her eyes now, tainting the taste of her lips with a hint of salt. She could not let him go; he would be gone forever.

When they finally broke, Jane turned swiftly and leaned her head against the window.

"You have an obligation to your family, Tom," she reminded him, her voice breaking. More tears slid down her face. "You cannot abandon them for me."

He stood behind her, his hand placed loosely on hers. He looked away, then turned back and sighed into her hair.

She turned to look at him, a question in her eyes.

"I am sorry," he said. Jane felt his soft breath again her skin, so tantalizingly close she could taste it. The distance between them was naught, and both fought the urge to take comfort in the other's presence, ignoring their desire to lean into the warm embrace of each other's arms again.

Finally, she broke the silence, her voice barely audible. "Whatever for?"

"For leaving you all those years ago. I was a damn fool. I could not possibly abandon you again," he replied, the yearning evident in his soft plead.

"You are not abandoning me," she said. "You are fulfilling a duty. And it was I who abandoned you."

He shook his head. "You were always right. Had I listened to you the first time, had we convinced my uncle of your perfection-" Jane looked up at him as he murmured the word perfection, tempted to argue, but she said nothing, and he smiled discreetly. "-I would have no reason to leave you now."

She managed the slightest smile. "Your uncle was headstrong, like you. We could not have convinced him."

He shook his head and said nothing for a moment. "I have every urge to leave my wife and stay with you, Jane. You can create feelings in me so strong I could never give my heart to another. I love you beyond the limits of propriety or society."

Jane closed her eyes and swallowed. "But you cannot simply leave after making a promise-"

"I made you a promise, Jane. I promised you that you could have this life with me!"

Jane sighed. "You have two daughters to raise. Love them, and let them love, and you will have done everything for me that you can now."

He turned to leave, but turned back. "If I could be with you, Jane, you must know I would."

She looked up at him. "I know."

For another moment, the two watched each other, and finally Tom placed a heartbreakingly chaste kiss on her upper lip, then turned to leave.

"I will never stop loving you," he whispered as the door shut behind him.

"Nor will I," she promised.


End file.
